Alhurra wins at the annual AIBs

November 2, 2017

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Springfield, VA — Alhurra’s weekly feature program Almajalla was named the Best Arts and Culture program at the annual AIB Awards ceremony. The award-winning episode featured a profile of Syrian artist Mohamed Hafez, who told his story of creating art that represents his feeling towards his home country.

Hafez was born in Damascus and moved to the United States to pursue his education. His art started as a reflection of, and deep nostalgia to his beloved Syria, using his architectural skills to create surrealistic streetscapes of Damascus. Responding to the atrocities of the Syrian war, Hafez’s recent work depicts cities besieged by civil war to capture the magnitude of the devastation and to expose the fragility of human life.

“Freedom of expression, through art or words, is an important theme that we highlight through our broadcasts,” stated MBN President Amb. Alberto Fernandez. “This episode of Almajalla captures Mohamed’s spirit and is an intimate picture of how a creative artist expresses himself and empathizes with his fellow Syrians. We are proud to have it recognized by the AIBs.”

Sponsored by the Association for International Broadcasting, the AIBs are an international award for factual video, audio and interactive productions. 2017 marks the 13th year of these independent, influential and respected awards. The ceremony was held in London on November 1.

About MBN

The Middle East Broadcasting Networks is a non-profit corporation is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the BBG.

MBN operates Alhurra Television, an Arabic-language television network that broadcasts to 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa via satellite, as well as Alhurra-Iraq Television. MBN also operates Radio Sawa, an Arabic-language radio network that broadcasts music and news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with more than 370 newscasts per week.